Ewing parking spot killer will get 25 years

TRENTON ó A Ewing man pleaded guilty Tuesday, to shooting his neighbor to death in 2011, over a dispute for a parking spot.

Wayne Voorhees, 52, admitted to firing a gunshot at 24-year-old Timothy Rivella, from the window of his apartment, located at the Versailles apartment complex in Ewing. According to reports, Voorhees fired a shotgun loaded with buckshot ammunition, which entered the victimís abdomen, killing him instantly.

As authorities closed in, Voorhees barricaded himself in his apartment, causing a stand-off with police which lasted almost eight hours.

When cops finally busted in, they found Voorhees bleeding from a self-inflicted gun-shot wound to the head, an apparent suicide attempt gone wrong. He was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center where he was arraigned at his bedside on murder and weapons charges by a Ewing Municipal Court judge.

Voorhees pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and will receive 25 years in prison and must serve 85 percent of the term, before being eligible for parole, according to the plea agreement. Judge Pedro Jimenez will be formally sentenced Voorhees on Feb. 15, 2013.

More than 600 friends and family members mourned the tragic death of Rivella, who was well-loved in the community.

Rivella was a local electrician, and he served as a Eucharistic minister, dispensing communion at Mass. At one time he considered becoming a priest.